Hitman developer IO Interactive is working on a new fantasy RPG, the studio revealed on February 28. This announcement arrives mere weeks after the company celebrated its biggest Hitman: World of Assassination update to date.
IO Interactive has been on quite a roll since performing a management buyout and gaining independence from its former parent Square Enix in 2017. The company secured rights to the Freedom Fighters and Hitman IPs as part of that acquisition, and while it has yet to do anything with the former, the latter proved to be quite a cash cow for the Copenhagen, Denmark-based studio. This is most obviously reflected in the fact that Hitman 3 became the most successful series entry within months of releasing in early 2021.
As for what's next for IO Interactive, this still-untitled fantasy RPG will be its first new IP since Mini Ninjas, an action-adventure game released for the seventh generation of consoles and PC back in 2009. While the company is describing it as an online game, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be an MMORPG, similar to how the World of Assassination trilogy of Hitman games consists of inherently online experiences that don't offer traditional multiplayer functionality. Either way, the vagueness of today's announcement indicates it's targeting the job market instead of consumers, much like CD Projekt Red confirmed Cyberpunk 2077 in order to draw in prospective hires nearly eight years before releasing the actual game.
The developer's last annual financial report for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2022, already suggested as much, stating that IO Interactive's next games are still years away from hitting the market. This newly announced fantasy RPG was already hinted at in that previous disclosure under the codename of Project Dragon, although the studio's current job openings call it Project Fantasy. Naturally, both of those monikers are tentative.
Apart from Project Dragon, IO Interactive is currently also working on a mysterious James Bond game code-named Project 007. Not much is known about that undertaking, either, with previous reports only indicating that the developer is looking to put out a fairly standalone title that doesn't use the likeness of any past actors who played Bond.
It is hence still difficult to say what can be expected from Project 007 and Project Dragon, apart from the fact that the new James Bond game will almost certainly beat IO Interactive's online fantasy RPG to the market. Namely, Project 007 has been in development for over two and a half years by now, so between that and the fact it's based on an established IP licensed from a third party, it's safe to say it will remain the studio's priority until release.